is it click and drag to pan or by moving the cursor to the edges of the screen? or otherwise?

Generally you hold down the left mouse button and you can rotate the camera around the player(Though in some games this can make the player walk instead). The right mouse button would move the camera and player around(With horizontal mouse movement). Holding down both mouse buttons would allow you to move the character forward(Where the player and camera rotate based on the horizontal mouse movement).

The exact functions of each of the two mouse buttons can differ. But its the same idea with all modern MMO's.

Don't play Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, then. The default camera sensitivity is crazy sensitive. I made a broad gesture the first time I played the game--big mistake . Fortunately, most games allow panning or have mouse sensitivity turned down fairly low

another suggestion would be to make uru feel less "look, don't touchy" in general somehow. i know that's been par for the course in myst games and that's served it well enough in the past. i liked how dynamic Revelations was and how so much could be done with the disembodied hand so fluidly. that's the only one that came close. URU is a step above however. there's plenty of levers to pull, buttons to push and all, but that's really only when it's necessary to solve a puzzle (or open a door) i'm talking items to collect and display that have some practical function in the game. dialog options to choose from. no, i'm not suggesting URU have npc's. but perhaps something like holograms players could converse with? they could give directions, offer hints, character bio's, game updates, story synopses, brief histories, the like. perhaps even the Ki could have an AI that would offer hints and info? (with the option to be disabled of course) these are just examples, really. but look at mass market games such as A list RPGs. there's characters to talk to, objects to examine, items to find, etc. URU is more like a museum. pretty to look at but not too many things to touch.

Actually, there were live actors in Prologue and during the GameTap era. Players could - and did! - interact with the members of the the DRC, as well as Douglas Sharper and Phil Henderson. There was even some (albeit limited) interaction with the bahro!

Considering that Cyans Plan for URU was to have Live Actors in the game, it doesn't sound like a bad idea to have NPC's, considering that its unlikely there would ever be Live Actors in MOULa.

I'd personally rather see more encouragement of actual roleplaying on the part of the players. This is something that Cyan's actors helped foster, but in the end the player interactions with those actors are what really drove things. There's no real reason for those actors to be required, though.

I think some people avoid such story in the absence of Cyan's actors because they worry about stepping on Cyan's toes. But we all need to remember that Cyan always intended players to help direct the story through their actions and their own personal stories. It's kind of unfortunate that some of that player interaction has been lost.

Or perhaps its just less aparent in a less crowded cavern, and there's secret groups of roleplayers that I don't know about.

_________________MOULagain KI #: 66990

When I was your age, we rocket-jumped up hill both ways in boiling lava.

I'd personally rather see more encouragement of actual roleplaying on the part of the players.

At the very least NPC's could be used to help inform people of things that have happened in the past or to teach people how the world works. Quite a few MMO's for example use NPC's to tell the player how the world works based on dialogues with them(The best ones give you a list of questions to pick from). They are a good fallback.

NPC's are not better than dedicated players, but dedicated players can not be around 24/7 in every instance on every shard.

my suggestion about NPC's was more an example really... personally, i'd be against NPC's in URU. Zandi is the only one (and the only exception) unless you count Yeesha but she did have a live actor iirc in addition to her holograms and recorded messages. which are just that... not "her". we're witnessing a record of her. URU is not the kind of game that would attempt to pass off an NPC as being "real"

that is why i suggested some sort of AI in the form of holograms... the only example i can think of that anyone might share any familiarity with are the Avena holographic AI computers on the Citadel metropolis in the Mass Effect games. they take the form of holographic women that residents and visitors of the Citadel can pose questions to. they're an AI computer designed to offer directions, give local info, and issue advisories. they also serve to orient players and players may direct their character to interact with them in conversation. in URU a similar concept may be used to orient new players and detail new content as it becomes available such as newly open city areas or info on current events... this would seem preferable as they wouldn't be "people" and wouldn't seem out of place in URU as far as i'm concerned...

that is of course assuming that NPCs are worthwhile anyway... my initial suggestion was just that something be done to make URU feel less hands off...